April's Fools
by LoquaciousQuibbler
Summary: Misadventure of the Avengers. Oh, the Avengers should be careful what they tell Loki about Midgardian culture… and avoid informing him of things like April Fool's Day. When one unwittingly lets slip, the heroes will have a whirlwind day of finding out what happens when the god of mischief decides to make them April's Fools. Includes OC Naomi Carson. T for mild rude humor/language.
1. Chapter 1

Dear Reader: this is a Misadventure of the Avengers. This means that it is one of many random stories for entertainment value only. This Misadventure will include my Original Character, Naomi Carson. You don't necessarily have to read my fan fiction starring her… just know that she, in the fan fiction, is an Avenger, and Loki's love interest. She is just one of the characters, and the story isn't focused solely on her, so you can enjoy this story without reading hers. Keep in mind that the Misadventures are purely entertainment, and don't necessarily have anything to do with the actual Avengers storyline. The Misadventures are meant purely to entertain the insanely bored Avengers fans, like myself. Guess that's all… continue… at your own risk. O.O

Loki: April's fool

Loki sat alone at a table in Stark Tower, playing Solitaire with a stack of cards he had swiped from the good Captain America.

Tony Stark himself then strolled in, his hands behind his back, obviously holding something in them that Loki couldn't see. "There you are," Tony broke off in his whistling and his mouth stretched into a grin.

Loki looked mistrustfully at Stark. "What do you want?"

Tony grinned more broadly. "I've got a gift for you, my good friend."

Loki frowned, but didn't say anything.

"We've all been talking," Stark started, "and Thor and Naomi have kind of convinced us that you've turned over a new leaf."

Loki narrowed his eyes. What in all the nine realms was this stupid mortal talking of?

"So on behalf of SHIELD, the Avengers have come to a decision. We would like to offer our hand in friendship and invite you into our ranks."

Loki stared blankly at him.

With a flourish, Stark presented a box from behind his back. It was wrapped in red and gold, the colors of Iron Man, and had a label stuck to it with the words "Loki, Avengers Recruit" on it.

Loki's eyes widened. "You're saying… that you… want me… to join your team of Earth's heroes?"

Tony Stark's smile widened to an impossible length and he nodded vigorously. "And this is our recruitment present. Open it."

Loki's mind was whirling. Thor and Naomi believed in him so much that they believed he could be a hero? An interesting idea. He glanced at Stark again, and then took the wrapped present. "Surprisingly enough, I actually feel somewhat honored," he murmured as he started to unwrap the box. "I never thought this would happen to me, I mean… After all I've done to your little group, I always thought I would be your enemy, a person to trick and defeat, but never to be invited in…" Loki trailed off as he opened the box to find a headband with reindeer antlers on it, and a strap with a red nose on it. Loki glared at Stark, who was fighting very hard to hold back laughter.

"Feel honored, my friend," Stark choked out, still trying to hold back his mirth. "For your superhero name is Reindeer Games. April Fool's, sucker!" Stark then proceeded to burst into a fit of uncontrollable laughter, soon rolling on the floor in tears.

Loki glared at the mortal genius. Perhaps he didn't know what "April Fool's, sucker!" meant, but he could tell enough to know that he had been tricked, and that this whole setup was a hoax. Loki picked up his scepter and shot a ball of the Tesseract's energy at the billionaire, who dodged the bolt, then jumped up and fled the room, laughing all the while.

Loki sighed, looking at the smoking hole in the carpet where the energy had hit. He then glanced at the box with the nose and antlers. What did this all mean, anyway? He was determined to find out.

Bruce Banner looked up from where he tinkered on some form of electronic or other as Loki walked in, carrying a box, a frown on his face.

"What do you need?" Banner asked, giving the god of mischief a wary look.

"I require information," Loki pronounced, then shoved the box he was carrying towards the doctor.

Confused, Bruce looked into the box to see a headband with reindeer antlers on it and a strap-on Rudolph the Red-Nose Reindeer nose. "What on earth is this?" Bruce asked, giving Loki an odd look.

Loki's brow furrowed. "That's what you're supposed to be telling me. Or are you unaware of the objects' significance as well?"

Bruce raised an eyebrow. "How'd you get these?"

Loki shrugged. "According to Stark, I am April's Fool. Who is April, and why am I her fool?" he demanded, staring at Banner.

Bruce groaned, tilting his head back to look at the ceiling. "Dear Lord, that's today? Shoot, I forgot. That means Stark probably has something planned for all of us in turn. That means I'll need a protective suit of armor, my food to be triple-checked for any little surprises, I'll need to check any chair before I sit on it—"

"Dr. Banner," Loki interrupted. "Would you mind telling me what in the nine realms is going on?"

Banner cut himself off and glanced at the confused Asgardian. "Well, it's April Fool's Day."

Loki gave the doctor a look that said, "Could you be any less explanatory?"

Bruce sighed. "Sorry, I forgot you have no idea what that is. So basically we have a holiday every year where you're supposed to pull pranks on each other. So whatever Stark did to you with these things was a prank. The point of the day is to not fall for anyone's tricks, and to trick as many people as you can. Kind of a stupid holiday that most people just try to ignore," Bruce said dismissively.

But the doctor had now piqued Loki's interest. "There is a day every year where playing pranks is allowed?"

Bruce cringed, realizing his mistake in telling the god of mischief of April fool's Day. But there was no turning back now. "Yeah," he muttered.

"One day every year," Loki said excitedly. "Where it is allowed, nay, encouraged, for pranks to be played on those of less intelligence than that of the prankster." He grinned. "And everyone on this Earth is below my intelligence."

"Except Stark," Bruce said under his breath, gesturing to the reindeer accessories.

Loki glared at the doctor. "That was before I was informed of the day. Now that I am well-informed, I shall make everyone April's Fool!" he grinned evilly before striding out of the room confidently.

"What the hell have I done?" Banner asked himself, rubbing his forehead and shaking his head.

Banner really should have thought through his actions before telling the god of mischief about April Fool's Day. He should have realized it would get out of hand. Because it did not take long for it to do so.

**Note from LoquaciousQuibbler: Reh heh heh… I know it's just barely before Christmas, but I have a method to this madness. If my calculations are correct, then I will be posting the last chapter of this story on April 1****st**** of 2015. If all goes well, I will be posting a chapter every Wednesday. Sound good? **

**I have tried to include everyone in this story… All the Avengers plus Nick Fury plus Naomi Carson and Loki, of course. There shall be plenty of humor, plenty of Tony-bashing, plenty of Loki humor, and plenty of just general April Fool's Day classics, along with some (hopefully) original stuff. **** I hope you will all enjoy it. **

**Please favorite, follow, and leave a review. However, this whole story is already written, so there's no need for suggestions for pranks, darlings. ;P **


	2. Chapter 2

*Thank you all for the response on my first chapter! 5 reviews! *happy dance* Anyways, let's get on with the pranking. *hands everyone a bag of virtual popcorn and plops down on the couch, leaning forward intently to watch the events of the chapter*

Tony: April's Fool

Tony Stark was the first victim of Loki's April Fool's Day pranks. No big surprise; he _was _the one who got the whole thing started, right?

"Jarvis, fire up the suit," Tony said, snapping his fingers as he walked into his laboratory.

"I wouldn't recommend that, sir," Jarvis's voice warned.

"Yeah, because I always follow your advice," Stark rolled his eyes. "Fire up the suit. I need to make sure the calibrations are working." Stark nonchalantly put the bracelets that would let the suit lock onto his location on and snapped his fingers again. "Come on, Jarvis. I'm not fooling around."

"Ooh, the irony of that particular choice of words," Jarvis observed. "I'll activate the suit, sir, but don't say I didn't warn you."

"Whatever, just fire it up," Stark said, starting to sound disgruntled. As he started to hear the whirring of the suit, though, the Artificial Intelligence's words started to sink in. "Wait, the irony of what particular choice of words, and warn me about what?"

But it was already too late. The Iron Man suit locked onto his location, and the pieces flew towards him, fitting themselves onto his body.

"What the—hey—what did you-?!" Tony shrieked as the arms, legs, and chest pieces all locked themselves onto Stark's body.

"I did warn you, sir," Jarvis said glumly.

"What on earth is this?" Stark demanded as the hands, feet, and back parts of the armor locked in place. "The inside of the suit's all… wet and slimy and—"

His last words were cut off as the Iron Man helmet fit itself over Tony's head. There was the sound of coughing, spitting, gagging, and then—

"Jarvis, get this thing off me! Power it down!" he shouted, sounding disgusted.

"Powering down," Jarvis confirmed, and then the pieces of the suit unlocked from each other and fell to the floor, revealing Tony Stark dripping from head to toe in forest green paint.

Tony looked at himself. "Wh—what—who-? Why didn't you say anything, Jarvis?! This'll never come off my clothes! And this was my fifteenth favorite shirt! Not to mention the suit! The inside will be stained green for the rest of eternity!"

"I did try to warn you, sir," Jarvis said, sounding tired for an A.I.

"Who on earth did this?!" Stark demanded, trying vainly to scrape green paint off of himself.

"Let's think," Jarvis said, managing to sound rather sarcastic for an artificial intelligence. "Who do we know that would love the excuse to pull a prank that involves covering someone in _green _paint?"

Tony's jaw dropped, revealing that green paint had gotten into his mouth as well, staining his teeth and tongue green. "That son of a—"

"You are now April's Fool, Stark!" Loki called gleefully, appearing a few yards behind the genius. "I have gotten, as you mortals like to call it, payback. Enjoy trying to clean that filth off yourself. Although," Loki grinned mischievously. "I do like the color." He disappeared into thin air as Tony rushed at the god of mischief, green hands outstretched to strangle him.

"I hate that guy!" Stark shouted as his hands closed over empty air.

There was a moment of silence as Tony breathed heavily, glaring at the spot where Loki had been moments before.

"On the positive side, the calibrations of the suit work perfectly," Jarvis said, finally breaking the silence.

Tony glared at one of the monitors in the room. Jarvis fell silent for another moment.

"And the color matches your eyes," Jarvis added cheekily.

**Note from LoquaciousQuibbler: Well, then, Loki has now pulled his first prank, with Tony Stark as the victim. I deeply enjoy tormenting Tony… though I admit he is my favorite hero, he is also my favorite to torture. Oh, we have so much more to go… so many pranks to pull, so little time… hope you come see what Loki does and to who next week. ;) **

**Please favorite, follow, and review. **


	3. Chapter 3

Thor: April's Fool

Loki's adoptive brother was the next to suffer April's Fooling. Thor was just as unsuspecting as Loki had been when Tony had tricked him, not that the god of mischief cared.

Loki searched the tower for his brother, carrying a plate of what appeared to be Oreos. He poked his head into various rooms before finding the god of thunder in one of Stark's many living rooms.

"There you are, brother," Loki said jovially when he found Thor.

Thor looked up from the encyclopedia he was reading cover to cover. "Ah, hello, Loki. How do you fare this fine day?"

Loki grinned. "Very well. Do you know what day it is?"

Thor looked puzzled. "No, wh—"

"Good," Loki interrupted. "Are you busy?"

Thor shook his head, looking somewhat confused still. "Not very busy, no. I have simply been reading this fascinating book..."

"I didn't know you could read," Loki muttered, smirking.

Thor ignored this statement (or maybe he just didn't hear it) and continued explaining himself, tapping the page of the book. "It tells of all manner of things on Earth. I am currently reading about a queer creature called a platypus. Do you know, it is classified as a mammal, yet it lays eggs? Also, it is the oddest looking thing—"

"I doubt it looks odder than you," Loki cut inn, giving his brother a disdainful look.

Thor frowned. "That was rude, Loki."

"Agreed," Loki nodded. "That was my aim. In any case, I was asking if you were busy because I have some cookies I thought you might want to sample."

Thor looked doubtfully at his brother for a moment before letting his gaze travel to the plate of Oreos Loki held. His face brightened. "Oreos?"

Loki nodded, trying not to smirk. "Indeed."

Thor glanced at the encyclopedia before placing a bookmark in it, setting it down, and standing up. "I could use a snack. Reading that book is exhausting."

Loki rolled his eyes. "I'm sure anything that requires brainpower is exhausting for you."

Thor frowned again. "I do not find your jokes funny, brother."

Loki snickered. "I bet you don't. Have a cookie." He offered the plate again.

Thor nodded. "I appreciate your gesture of sharing food. I remember that when we were younger, you used to do horrible things to my food. I remember you once hid bugs in the holes of cheese, and once you replaced the noodles in my soup with worms, and once you got me to eat rabbit droppings, claiming they were chocolates, and one time you—" Thor picked up an Oreo and was about to bite into it when a thought suddenly struck him. "You haven't done anything horrible to these Oreos, have you?"

Loki's eyes widened innocently. "Why would I do anything to your food? Would I really do something horrible to a plate full of cookies and then offer them in a feigned friendly gesture?"

"Yes," Thor said, glaring at his brother suspiciously, then inspecting the cookies.

Loki shook his head. "I feel offended that you think I would do something so childish. Offering you false cookies would be an immature, juvenile, silly prank."

Thor considered this statement for a moment, then shrugged. "I suppose you are right." He then picked up two Oreos at once and shoved them both into his mouth. He smiled for a moment, but then his face twisted into a grimace and he spit it out.

Loki burst into laughter, dropping the plate of Oreos on the floor.

"Loki!" Thor exclaimed, gagging and trying to rid his mouth of the horrible taste. "What -?"

"Toothpaste," Loki laughed. "I replaced the cream of your beloved cookies with toothpaste!"

Thor gave Loki a disgusted look, still shuddering. "I thought you said such pranks were childish and immature."

Loki grinned mischievously. "That doesn't stop them from being funny! You are now April's fool, Thor!" He then disappeared into thin air, leaving Thor looking bewildered, and alone with the deceitfully innocent looking Oreos.

**Note from LoquaciousQuibbler: And another prank down. Okay, this one was kind of lame, I know. But it's just one of those things that you know you just have to do once. And I wanted this prank to have something to do with food… and the Facebook posts about this prank are just too promising to pass up. So yeah. **

**We still have lots more to get through…Next chapter, we are going to actually start tying each of the pranks together, making a storyline rather than just a couple of one-shot pranks. Also, next chapter, my OC Naomi Carson comes into the picture... You may know her from some of my humor one-shots and the story Battle of Wits. **

**Review, favorite, and follow… and join me next week to see who is next to suffer April's Fooling. ;)**


	4. Chapter 4

Clint: April's Fool

Clint Barton was expecting pranks to try to be pulled today. However, he didn't realize that pranks would be coming from Loki, the god of mischief.

Clint thought he took every possible precaution. He double checked every chair before he sat on it, and only ate food he prepared for himself. He didn't leave any drinks or plates unattended, and didn't open any doors unless someone else had opened it and walked in just before him. Clint kept himself armed the whole day: his collapsible bow was folded up in his pocket and his quiver was on his back. He thought he was safe from any pranks.

As Barton sat on the couch (after checking the seat for whoopee cushions or sharp objects), he looked around at the other occupants of the room. Thor, Naomi Carson, and Nick Fury.

"Where's Tony?" he asked suspiciously.

Everyone shrugged.

"I haven't seen him since he went down to his lab. Said something about checking the calibrations on his suit. Why?" Naomi asked.

Clint glanced around the room again, expecting at any moment for the billionaire to come swooping down from the ceiling with a paintball gun or something else equally sneaky. "Don't you know what day it is? I swear, I get paranoid about this day every year. Especially being friends with Tony Stark. If I know him, he's got something beyond mortifying planned for all of us."

Thor looked up, alarmed. "Why? What day is it today?"

The three mortals inn the room exchanged glances.

"It's April first," Nick explained. "April Fool's Day. It's the one day of the year where you're supposed to pull pranks on each other."

Thor's eyes widened. "_Now _I understand!"

Everyone gave him an odd look.

"Understand what?" Clint asked.

Thor opened his mouth to answer, but at that moment, Loki walked in, smiling.

"Good afternoon, my friends," Loki greeted everyone, giving Naomi an especially warm smile before sitting down next to Hawk Eye.

Barton looked at him suspiciously. "What's up?"

Loki grinned broadly. "Are you aware of what day it is?"

Thor suddenly stood up, his hands balled into fists. "You shall not make any more of the Avengers April's fool!" he said forcefully.

Loki raised his eyebrows. "Ah, so you finally figured out what day it is… And you don't think I'll make anyone else April's Fool? OH, yes, you're going to stop me, I'm sure."

Clint frowned. "Loki's been pulling pranks?"

Loki smiled and shook his head. "No, of course not. I would never do such a thing. Thor simply had the misfortune of discovering that some cookies I had offered him didn't have their usual sweet, sugary filling."

Naomi snorted. "You pulled the toothpaste Oreo trick?"

Loki suppressed a smile.

Naomi laughed. "Classic. That explains why his breath doesn't smell too bad today."

"It is not funny, Miss Carson," Thor said in a scolding voice, throwing a glare to her and then returning it to Loki. "I refuse to let you make my friends into April's Fools."

Clint Barton and Nick Fury both looked mistrustfully at Loki, while Naomi was still trying not to laugh over the idea of Loki's Oreo prank.

Loki sighed heavily and shrugged. "I suppose you've caught me. I can't pull any more pranks on you clever heroes. You're _obviously_ prepared for _anything_."

Clint narrowed his eyes, not liking the mocking, sarcastic edge to the god of mischief's voice. He had something up his sleeve.

"Did I just hear Loki's voice?" Tony's voice called from down the hall.

"Yes," Thor called.

Clint was alert in a flash, prepared for Stark to come in and start lobbing water balloons or something. "I swear to God, Stark, if you try to pull any pranks..." he pulled the collapsible bow out of his pocket.

Loki grinned. "This'll be good."

"I'm not trying to pull any pranks, I just want to murder Thor's brother," Tony said, his voice coming closer as he walked toward the room.

"Yeah, likely story,," Barton scoffed, jerking his arm to unfold his bow…. But it didn't unfold. "Hey!" he exclaimed, shaking his bow repeatedly. It still stayed folded up.

"Oh, dear," Loki smirked. "Issues, Agent Barton?"

Clint flashed Loki a glare before inspecting his bow closely. Heavy-duty glue held the joints together so it wouldn't unfold. Hawk Eye stared at his bow in disbelief. "_Anthony Edward Stark!_" he shouted. "_You glued my bow shut?!_"

"I did no such thing," Stark said indignantly. Everyone looked up to see the genius standing in the doorway to the room, covered in now mostly-dried green paint. "If it was me, your bow would be covered in green fingerprints."

Clint looked at his glued bow again, then at Stark. "Then who-?"

Tony rolled his eyes. "I would take a wild guess and say it was the same person who did _this,_" he gestured to himself and the green paint that covered every inch of his body.

Thor looked furious. "My brother has now gone too far! I shall see to it that he-!" he fell silent as he turned to see that Loki had disappeared from the room, leaving a note on the couch next to Barton that said _'You are now April's Fool.' _

Naomi Carson picked up the note and inspected it. "You know, sometimes I have to wonder why on Earth I love him."

"Personally, we wonder that all the time," Nick Fury muttered. "Nott just sometimes."

Naomi rolled her eyes. "On the other hand, it's times like these where I know exactly why I love him." She flapped the note. "I'm guessing he's still not done with his pranks. My only question is, who's next? And what will it be?" She paused. "Also, where did he get glue, paint, and toothpaste and Oreos?"

Perhaps Naomi shouldn't have been so naive about Loki's pranks. Her time would come soon enough, even if she wasn't next.

**Note from LoquaciousQuibbler: Lol poor Clint; his signature weapon, glued shut… :P And now we're actually gonna start developing something resembling a plot eheheh. **

**So, we've now got Naomi Carson in the picture… and she's in the same room as Tony Stark… Just warning you now, they argue… a **_**lot. **_**It's quite fun to write, really… the arguments shall start next chapter… hope it's just as fun to read as it is for me to write :P **

**More pranks coming your way! See you next Wednesday! Please favorite, follow, and review. **


	5. Chapter 5

*Thank you all for the response this story is getting! I did not actually expect a whole lot… but we're up to 18 reviews, 15 favorites, and 20 follows. Please keep it coming! Hope you enjoy the chapter.

Natasha: April's Fool

Who would have thought Natasha Romanoff, the Black Widow, was next? She wasn't particularly expecting any pranks to be pulled on her. After all, Stark should know better than to try anything. Barton knew better, too. And she couldn't think of any other likely candidates to pull pranks on her.

For once, Agent Romanoff had allowed herself the luxury of sleeping in late. Even if she didn't expect any pranks, the less time she spent out in the open on April fool's Day, the better. She still didn't want to take the chance of some random teenagers egging her or some other nonsense.

So it was already late midmorning when she set the book she had been reading in bed down and swung her legs over the side of the bed. She started the water for her shower and stepped in.

Natasha scrubbed her scalp thoroughly with the shampoo and then reached for the body wash, planning to let the shampoo sit. She paused as her fingers brushed the container of soap. Her hands were green. "What the…" She frowned and inspected them closer. The skin on her hands was dyed a dark shade of grass green. "How…?" she trailed off and her eyes widened as she realized something.

Her hands hadn't been green until they had scrubbed her hair with the shampoo.

With a shout of "_Oh my god!_" She washed her hair out as quickly as she could, feeling a sense of doom as the water turned a green color as it went down the drain. Soapy green bubbles swirled for a moment before being sucked down.

The Black Widow simply stared for a moment, afraid to believe what she would find when she looked in the mirror. With a grimace, she turned off the water and stepped out of the shower. The mirror was fogged up from the heat of the shower, a fact Natasha wasn't sure if she appreciated or not. She dried and dressed as quickly as she could before tentatively reaching forward and wiping the mirror with her green hand… and then she slapped her green hand over her mouth as she stared at her reflection. Her hair had been dyed a brilliant shade of emerald green. The skin around the back of her neck was the same color, dyed from the water that had run from her hair.

The master assassin threw open the bathroom door and stormed out of her room, pausing only to grab a hat to help cover up her green hair somewhat. She was angry. And getting the Black Widow, a lethal spy, angry was not a good idea. Someone was going to pay for this.

She followed the sound of voices, deep in serious discussion, to a living room that held Nick Fury, Naomi Carson, Thor, Clint Barton, and… Tony Stark? It was hard to recognize him because he was covered from head to toe in forest green paint.

"Alright, who did it?" Romanoff demanded, entering the room and interrupting the conversation without a second's thought. "Barton? Stark?" she paused as she glanced at Stark. "Maybe not Stark. Looks like he's been pranked, too. Or was it you, Naomi? Thinking I wouldn't expect it from you? What kind of sick joke is this, anyway?" she shouted, glaring around at the room, her eyes blazing.

Everyone stared at her.

"Wait, you got pranked?" Tony asked, looking at the Black Widow appraisingly. "_You _got pranked?"

Romanoff's cheeks flushed. "Now who did it?"

No one bothered to answer her question, looking at her with amusement.

"What happened to you?" Naomi asked brightly, her eyes shining with mischievous curiosity.

Natasha crossed her arms. "You think I'm just wearing this hat for fashion?" she pointed to her hot pink baseball cap, which hid almost all of her green hair.

"Yeah, not really your color," Tony input, shaking his head tragically.

"Well, neither is green," Natasha spat, lifting her hat briefly to show everyone her green hair.

Everyone snickered, but quickly stopped at her death glare.

"Now who did it?" she demanded again.

Everyone exchanged looks, as if unsure who should break the news.

"My brother has been making us all into April's Fools," Thor said quietly. "So far, he has fooled me, Mr. Stark, Agent Barton, and you."

Natasha looked at the ones who had been fooled. "I think it's kind of obvious what he did to you," she nodded to Stark. "But what about you two?" she glanced between Thor and Clint.

Clint held up his folded up bow. "Glued it shut, the rat," he muttered.

Thor looked sheepish. "He got me to eat Oreos with a most displeasing filling: tooth—"

"Toothpaste?" Natasha cut in, raising her eyebrows. "You fell for that one?"

Thor frowned. "I was unaware that I was supposed to be on the lookout for trickery today."

"So who hasn't he gotten yet?" the Black Widow asked, trying to strategize in her mind. "So there are Nick and Naomi," she counted on her fingers. "And then Banner and Rogers?"

Everyone nodded.

"Anyone else starting to get the feeling that Naomi isn't gonna get pranked?" Clint asked, raising his eyebrows at the Huntress.

Carson grinned. "I don't know. He might actually leave me alone as a little favor. I hope so."

"We don't," Stark said under his breath.

Naomi stuck her tongue out at Tony. "You're just jealous."

"Of having Loki as your boyfriend?" Tony asked, cocking an eyebrow. "No, I'm not particularly jealous. He's all yours."

"Can we try to stay focused here?" Natasha interrupted. "You guys can fight over Loki later."

Tony and Naomi both opened their mouths to protest, but the Black Widow cut them off.

"I think we should worry about the people who are still in danger of being pranked. Naomi, I think you're still at risk," she said firmly.

Naomi pursed her lips. "I'm his girlfriend. I don't expect he'll—"

"Loki is known for doing the unexpected," Thor added. "So perhaps we should expect the unexpected. I say Naomi should be protected."

Tony frowned. "If he knows we're expecting the unexpected, he'll do something unexpected… Like something expected. So shouldn't we expect the expected, because it's unexpected?"

Everyone blinked for a moment, trying to follow what the genius had just said.

Naomi, an expert at double negatives and such, was the first to respond. She shook her head. "Tony, expecting the expected _because_ it's _unexpected_ is still technically expecting the unexpected. And if we're expecting the expected because it's unexpected, wouldn't Loki know that we're expecting the expected, thereby making it expected? That makes the unexpected once again unexpected. We should still be expecting the unexpected. Just be ready for anything."

Tony automatically jumped at the chance to argue, though everyone else was still trying to unravel the tangled argument. "But if we expect the unexpected, by expecting it, it becomes expected, thereby rendering anything unexpected expected. If Loki's going to do the unexpected, he'll do something expected because we'll be expecting the unexpected, and if the expected is _unexpected…" _he trailed off for a moment, trying to remember what he was saying. Naomi was frowning curiously, trying to keep track of all the expected and unexpected expected's and unexpected's. Tony seemed to be calculating something in his head, as if recalling where he had been going with his argument. "we can't be expecting the unexpected because—"

"_Shut up!" _everyone shouted at the pair.

Stark and Carson fell silent, shooting each other bitter looks. They both hated not being able to definitively win an argument. Even though by this point, they weren't even sure what they were arguing about anymore, and couldn't quite recall whatever points they were trying to make.

"Now then," Nick Fury said, sighing and looking around. "Back to the plan. I think we should try to stop Loki from pulling any more monkey business on anyone else in this tower."

The present Avengers murmured agreement.

"So," Nick sighed. "Let's get started. So where's Rogers?"

There was a moment of silence.

"Can't we save Banner from being pranked first?" Tony asked in a whiny- kid voice. "I don't wanna save Rogers. I don't like him."

Everyone rolled their eyes.

"I don't like him either, but I'm tempted to agree to find Rogers first, just to spite Stark," Naomi muttered.

"I'm tempted to find Loki so that I can convince him to prank you," Stark shot back.

"I'm tempted to prank you myself," Naomi spat at the billionaire. "I think some claw marks would look great with your green paint."

"I'm tempted to make Banner turn into the Hulk just so he can smash you both into oblivion! Then we could get some peace and quiet!" Fury exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air. "You're acting like children!"

The two impossible arguers hung their heads. "Sorry," they muttered.

"I say there's probably safety in numbers," Natasha suggested, pulling her baseball cap a little lower on her head. "If we all gather together, there are more eyes to watch for anything _funny." _

Clint snickered. "You mean like green hair?"

The Black Widow shot Hawk Eye a death glare.

"You know," Naomi said thoughtfully. "Your prank isn't all that bad, Nat. All you need is a little white powder, a little red lipstick, and a purple and green suit and you'd be in business. Forget Loki's pranking, you're just dressed up as the Joker for all we know."

"You're lucky I'm not armed," Romanoff growled, her hand slipping to her hip, where a gun was usually hanging. Unluckily for her, she realized that someone (probably Loki) had swiped the gun from its holster.

**Note from LoquaciousQuibbler: I had plenty of fun writing Naomi and Tony's expecting the unexpected argument… Does it remind anyone else of Jack Sparrow? I managed to replicate it with my friends one time while trying to explain this scene XD **

**Also, comparing Natasha's now-green hair with the Joker… Yeah, poor woman got her hair dyed green by Loki. I don't even know how he would have managed to put hairdye in her shampoo. Ah, well, he's a god. Lol. **

**Please favorite, follow, and review. See you next Wednesday ;) **


	6. Chapter 6

Steve: April's Fool

It was some time before everyone calmed down enough to go on a search for the missing members of the team.

"Anyone have any ideas where Banner or Rogers might be?" Barton asked as they left the living room they had all been in.

"I'm gonna take a wild guess here and say Banner's in one of the top ten floors doing something smart with technology while Rogers is in the top ten floors doing something incredibly stupid with technology. Like trying to figure out how you're supposed to use a mechanical pencil," Tony said, rolling his eyes.

"How _do _you use a mechanical pencil?" Thor asked suddenly, peering at Stark.

Tony opened his mouth to make some retort, but was cut off.

"Okay, got it, top ten floors," Barton said, rolling his eyes.

"What's on the top ten floors?" a voice asked from behind them as they started to walk down the hall to the elevator. Everyone turned, tensed and ready to face something horrible. Instead, they only saw Captain America (or rather, Steve Rogers; he wasn't in his suit).

"Hay, look who decided to show up and make himself useful," Naomi said brightly. "Now our work's half-done."

"What work?" Steve inquired, raising his eyebrows. "I thought we were basically off today."

"You are," Nick nodded. "We've run into a little trouble with Loki is all. We're just trying to take some little precautionary measures to prevent further incidents."

Rogers surveyed the group, his eyes lingering on Tony Stark, still covered in green paint, and Natasha Romanoff, green hair poking out from under her pink baseball cap. "Incidents," he repeated quietly. "What's going on?"

"We'll explain in a little while," Natasha said quickly, pulling her baseball cap a little lower. "Just… come on, we've got to find Dr. Banner."

Steve nodded. "Sure."

The group continued down the hall, Steve taking up the rear.

"So you know what day it is, right?" Naomi asked, glancing back at the super soldier.

He nodded. "Of course. It's Wednesday."

Everyone groaned.

"Wait, Tuesday?" Rogers asked, alarmed.

"It's April Fool's Day," Natasha exclaimed, rubbing her forehead with her still-green hand.

"What- oh, yeah!" Steve's face cleared of confusion, replaced by comprehension. "I knew that," he said defensively.

"Likely story," Agent Carson muttered. "Anyway, Loki's pulled a few pranks so far today. We figured the best way to prevent anymore is to stay together so we can keep an eye out for each other."

"Good idea," Rogers nodded approvingly. "So…" he glanced around. "I can take a wild guess and figure that he pulled one on Natasha and Tony."

The two referenced sighed deeply and blushed (not that you could see Stark's blush through the thick coat of green paint).

"Who else?" Rogers asked.

"Barton and Thor," Nick explained. "Anything odd happen to you today?" He hit the button for the elevator as he spoke.

"Nothing at all," Steve shook his head and smiled. "I bet he's too afraid to do anything to me." The elevator arrived and everyone piled in, Steve standing at the front. "Loki's a coward. He wouldn't do anything to me. Not after I kicked his ass in Germany that one time."

Everyone stared at Steve's back as the elevator started to move upwards. Attached to the back of his shirt was a piece of paper with two simple words in fancy green letters: 'Kick Me.'

"You know what I mean?" Steve continued, not realizing what the others noticed. "It's like, Loki always thinks he's all big and bad, but at the same time, he's kind of just…"

No one bothered to listen to him as he jabbered on and on as the elevator rose to the twentieth floor. They all exchanged glances.

The door made a ding and it slid open.

Captain America continued to talk about how cowardly, stupid, and irritating Loki was.

Tony, Clint, and Naomi raised their eyebrows at each other as all of them unloaded. Thor, Steve, Nick, and Natasha didn't notice as the three started to talk quickly under their breath to each other.

"This almost seems like a really good opportunity," Tony muttered.

"For heroes, we have some really messed up senses of humor," Clint murmured, watching as Steve started to lead the way down the hall, the piece of paper taped to his back in plain view to those behind him, though the others were obviously just going to ignore it.

Naomi grinned wickedly. "What do you say we take turns? Two hold him down, one kicks him, and we'll rotate?"

The other two considered for a moment.

"All those in favor?" Carson asked.

"Aye," the three said in unison.

"Aye, what?" Rogers asked, turning his head to see what the three behind him were talking about… only about half a second before he was tackled to the ground. "Hey! What on earth are you guys-?!"

"Stark! Barton! Carson!" Nick Fury shouted as the three (inn a very orderly fashion, surprisingly) beat up the good captain, who struggled to no avail.

"My friends, this is only what Loki wants!" Thor protested, trying to yank on Tony's arm as he pinned Rogers down with Naomi while Barton kicked Steve.

"Are you guys really this juvenile?" Romanoff scolded, trying to pull Naomi away as she switched places with Barton so she could kick Rogers.

"Quit your nonsense at once!" Thor demanded, now tugging on Tony's arm harder.

"Hang on!" Tony yelled. "Naomi, move, I haven't kicked him yet!"

Naomi dove for Steve's arm as Tony switched places with her, causing Natasha and Thor to trip and fall, making a pile-up of Avengers.

"Would you guys get off me?!"Steve cried, his voice muffled from the bottom of the pile.

Tony managed a few well-aimed kicks between the tangle of arms and legs before he declared. "Alright, you can let him up now. Party poopers," he added as everyone started to scramble up.

Thor and Fury pulled Rogers, battered and bruised, to his feet.

"What was that all about?" he asked angrily, straightening his shirt. As he did, the paper that had been stuck to it fluttered to the ground. He picked it up, read it, and stared at his three attackers. "Seriously?" He glared at all of them, who simply smirked. With a sigh, Rogers crumpled up the 'Kick Me' sign and tossed it away. "I swear, it's high school all over again. Except no one was shouting at everyone to stop it then."

"So much for keeping an eye out for each other," Natasha said accusingly, glaring at Barton, Carson, and Stark. "I thought we were supposed to be helping each other not get pranked, not helping fulfill the pranks," she pursed her lips.

The three shrugged, suppressing smiles. "Not like we'd get another opportunity to tackle Steve Rogers and kick him…" Tony said with feigned innocence.

"You know what they say… when Opportunity's knocking…" Naomi said sweetly.

The others just shook their heads and continued down the hall. "Come on," Nick called over his shoulder. "We've still got to find Banner."

The miscreants glanced at each other.

"Regrets?" Stark asked.

The other two shook their heads. "Never," Clint said solemnly.

Naomi smirked. "You know, it was actually pretty clever of Loki to do that. The only way that prank could have gone better is if he put the kick me sign on Starks back. Then more people would've joined in."

Stark looked affronted. "Well, he already got me, so…" he considered for a moment. "Besides, wouldn't more people join in on kicking Fury?"

The other two paused and thought this over. The mental image of Nick Fury's death glare wasn't a pleasing one. Naomi and Clint shrugged and shook their heads.

"Not so much," Barton said.

"Would more people have really joined in to kick me?" Tony asked.

"Without a doubt," Clint nodded.

"Indubitably," Naomi agreed. "Not that that's important. Just a thought to remember for next April Fool's Day. For now, let's try to save our skins from Loki's pranking wrath, shall we?"

The Huntress and Hawk Eye strolled off down the hall.

Tony looked thoughtful for a moment, then just shrugged and followed.

**Note from LoquaciousQuibbler: Okay, apologies to Captain America fans… :P lol I kinda dislike him… and so do Stark and Naomi… and Clint seems to be the kind of person who would join in on a little joke like that **

**My favorite joke of this one is… **

"**Steve, you know what day it is?" **

"**Of course. It's Wednesday." **

***groan* **

"**Wait, Tuesday?!" **

**Because we've all been in that situation where you don't know if someone means the date or the day of the week lol. And everyone thinks you're an idiot… even though you're totally right. The next two chapters will be kinda short and not entirely… **_**pranks… **_**but they set it up for the next couple of pranks (chapter 9 is when the next actual **_**prank **_**will be… but until then, we have some Avengers dysfunctionality). **

**Please favorite, follow, and review. See you next Wednesday! **


	7. Chapter 7

Ambushed Cameras

Tony Stark, Natasha Romanoff, Clint Barton, Nick Fury, Naomi Carson, Steve Rogers, and Thor continued to search for Bruce Banner in Stark Tower.

After clearing one full floor with absolutely no sign of the doctor, Stark asked, "Question: why don't we just ask Jarvis where he is?"

Everyone moaned. "I don't know, Tony. You tell us," Rogers growled, glaring at the genius. "Wouldn't it have been a little helpful to have thought of that _earlier?!_"

Stark raised his hands in mock surrender. "I didn't _think _of it earlier. Anyways." He tapped a few keystrokes on a keyboard in the lab they were in. "Jarvis, give me Dr. Banner's location."

There was a slight pause.

"I'm sorry, sir, but I can't seem to locate Dr. Banner in the building," Jarvis's voice informed them coolly.

Everyone stared at each other.

"Not in the building?" Stark asked in bewilderment.

"No, sir. I cannot find him on any of my security cameras." Jarvis paused. "In fact, I can't seem to find you on my security cameras either, sir. According to the systems, it would appear that no living entities are currently in the tower."

Everyone gaped at those words. "What on earth?" Rogers asked.

With a frown, Tony tapped furiously at the keyboard before groaning. "You guys, look at this." He spun the monitor so that everyone could see.

The others crowded around to take a look.

"What exactly are we looking at here?" Fury asked, peering at the screen with his one eye. "It just looks like a bunch of little white boxes."

Naomi leaned closer to look. "It _is _just a bunch of little white boxes. The only issue with little white boxes is they're supposed to be little colored boxes. Director," she paused and tapped a tiny label on top of each of the numerous white boxes displayed on the screen. "This is security footage. Live from Stark Tower."

"Live security footage?" Barton repeated, examining the window displayed. "Which is the camera for this room?"

Stark tapped on one of the little white boxes, and it enlarged, filling up the screen. "This is it. Laboratory 11. Looks exactly like the feed from all the other cameras." It was a blank white screen.

"Here's a question worth asking," Natasha interrupted. "Stark, where is the camera in this room?"

"Southeast corner of the room. That's where all the cameras are located," Naomi answered nonchalantly.

"Hey, how'd you know?" Stark asked accusingly.

Naomi shrugged. "I pay attention to random details that have absolutely no significance under normal circumstances. Like the fact that you left green smudges on the keyboard from typing on it with your painted-green fingers." She smiled.

Immediately, Tony investigated the keyboard. "Dang it, you're right. Have I been leaving footprints around the tower, too? That's gonna be such a horrible carpet cleaning bill if I have."

Naomi shook her head. "I think you wore off enough of the paint from your shoes walking from your downstairs lab to the living room that you haven't been leaving footprints for a while. At least, not since we all met up in the living room."

Stark shrugged, still looking at his keyboard. "I would wipe this off with my shirt, but," he paused, looking woefully at his painted-green shirt. "I think that'd just make it worse. Anyways, the cameras are in the southeast corners of the rooms."

"You mean where that piece of white paper is hung?" Thor asked suddenly, pointing to a piece of paper hanging on the wall.

"Well, that explains a lot," Steve commented, rushing over to the wall and tearing the paper down, revealing a hole in the wall about the size of a bottle cap.

"Check the feed," Fury demanded.

Tony did so, examining the monitor. "Yup. That did it. I can see a little tiny us on the monitor."

"Sir, I have located you, Agent Barton, Agent Romanoff, Agent Carson, Steve Rogers—" Jarvis started listing off, but Stark cut him off.

"Thanks, J. That solves one problem," he muttered. "Now we know why he couldn't locate Banner… Loki's somehow hung pieces of paper over all the security cameras as another prank."

Rogers sighed as he looked at the paper in his hands. "Fantastic," he held up the paper, which had "You are April's Fools" written in fancy green writing in a corner. He shook his head and crumpled up the piece of paper. "Sneaky guy, isn't he? Loki, I mean. Covering up the cameras. Now we're going to have to search the tower manually." He glanced around. "Suppose we'd better get started, huh?"

**Note from LoquaciousQuibbler: Bit of a shorter chapter, but still… Loki has now kind of pranked Jarvis… along with everyone in the tower at once. **

**I don't expect too much response for this chapter… but still, favorite, follow, and if you'd be ever so kind as to leave a review? I'll see you next Wednesday. **


	8. Chapter 8

Split Up

"If you were a de-Hulk-ified Hulk, where would you be?" Tony asked, peering into another of countless laboratories.

"Hiding from you," Naomi muttered. "Simple. Same thing I always do, whether I'm a de-Hulk-ified Hulk or if I'm me."

"Yeah, right. Be serious," Tony rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, because you always are," Natasha retorted, double checking the lab before signaling to move onto the next room.

"There has got to be a faster way to do this than just checking every single room in the building," Fury muttered. "Especially with my team fighting like cats and dogs…" he paused. "No offense, Carson."

Naomi rolled her eyes. "None taken. You guys don't have to apologize every time someone makes a cat reference. I agree. There's got to be a faster way."

"Split up?" Rogers suggested.

Everyone considered for a moment.

"It makes sense," Agent Romanoff said after a moment. "Cover more ground quicker."

"Hang on," Naomi interrupted. "I thought the whole point of this was to group together, not split up."

"We'll regroup after we find Banner," Fury dismissed. "Stark, do you happen to have any walkie-talkies or headsets available so we can all keep in contact?"

"Back in half a second," Stark said, diving under a table and digging through a box before producing a tangle of wires and headsets. He focused on untangling the wires for a few moments before showing about ten separate earpieces. "Tah-dah!"

"Everyone grab an earpiece," Nick ordered, picking one up for himself.

Everyone followed suit, pressing them into place.

"I still don't know, director," Naomi muttered. "Something about _disassembling _the Avengers just doesn't sit well with me. Splitting up doesn't sound like a good idea."

Nick considered her words for a moment, then nodded. "Alright, we'll go in groups of two or three so we're not alone. We'll convene back in the living room once we find Banner. Uncover the cameras in each room you clear as you go. Anyone has problems, call for help from your teammate or use the earpiece. Keep each other _safe_, and keep me posted. Agreed?" He gave Clint, Tony, and Naomi the evil eye.

The Avengers present nodded.

"Good. Everyone team up," Fury nodded to the group.

"I call not being teamed up with Stark!" Naomi exclaimed, scooting as far from the genius as she could.

"Agreed," Clint and Steve said in unison, backing away from him.

"You and me?" Hawk Eye asked the Black Widow, who shrugged. The two assassins then stood together and watched with amusement to see who else would end up getting paired… and who would be unfortunate enough to end up with Stark.

Steve sidestepped a little closer to Naomi, who rolled her eyes and simply shrugged. "Could be worse," she muttered, standing next to the Captain. They looked at the remaining three… Thor, Fury, and Stark.

Nick and Thor nodded to each other.

Tony stared around at them. "And what about me? Am I to be left alone to fend for myself in this cold, cruel-?"

"Shut up, Stark, you can come with us," Fury said, interrupting Tony's melodramatic speech with an eye roll and a solid yank on the billionaire's paint-stained shirt, dragging him out of the room.

"I'll see you soon, my friends," Thor said, giving the others a quick smile as he followed the sounds of Tony protesting for Nick to let him go.

The other two teams looked at each other.

"Suppose we should get a move on, Nat," Barton said, nudging the Black Widow with his elbow. "We'll see you two eventually," he nodded to Steve and Naomi. "Be careful. That guy's tricky."

"Good luck," Romanoff added. "We'll see you in the living room soon. Call if you need help." She gestured to her ear, where her earpiece was fit snugly.

"Don't get pranked," Naomi called after the pair as they left.

Now it was only the Huntress and Captain America.

"I've got a bad feeling about this," Steve muttered.

"Sure you do, Han Solo," Naomi rolled her eyes.

"Huh?" he frowned.

"Nothing," Naomi sighed. "Movie reference. Star Wars. A guy just says at one point that he's got a bad feeling."

"Oh," Rogers looked at her awkwardly for a moment. "Well… shall we?" He held out his elbow for her to take.

"I swear, you irk me sometimes, Steve," Naomi muttered, walking past him and giving his arm a light slap. "Let's just find Bruce and get this day over with."

Rogers just shrugged and followed her lead out of the room.

**Note from LoquaciousQuibbler: Okay, another short chapter… but the next one is really long. This just sets it up for the next couple pranks. So… yeah. No one wants to team up with Stark. I mean, who would? He'd take the credit if something went right, blame you if something went wrong, and irritate you the entire time you were together… So nobody wants to be with him XD **

**And I know from **_**The Winter Soldier **_**that Steve is catching up on modern cultural staples like **_**Star Wars, **_**but this has actually been written for a while… since before **_**The Winter Soldier **_**came out… so Naomi explaining the "I've got a bad feeling about this" is just gonna remain. **

**And I sense Phantasmagorical Me freaking out over Naomi and Steve teaming up… I feel a disturbance in the force… ;P You'll see what happens with that next chapter. **

**Please favorite, follow, and review. Next Wednesday, we shall be enjoying a multitude of pranking **


	9. Chapter 9

*So… this chapter is a lot longer than the previous two, and full of pranks. So… yeah.

Okay, and _this_ note is for anyone who has not read my story Battle of Wits… to fully understand the awkward tension between Steve and Naomi that exists in this chapter, you must understand… Naomi and Loki are together (obviously we've already established that). However, in my fic Battle of Wits, Steve always had a thing for Naomi, and they had a close friendship for a couple of months. But when Steve tried to make a move, Naomi (very gently, actually) rejected him. Since then, their relationship is a little strained, for obvious reasons. So… just keep that in mind while reading. Steve had a thing for her, and was rejected.

Naomi and Steve: April's Fools

After a quick consultation between the three groups via headsets, each team was assigned specific floors to clear.

"By the way," Nick said, his voice coming from Naomi's earpiece as she and Steve walked down a hallway, "is anyone armed?"

"My gun got swiped at some point," Natasha said sullenly, her sigh magnified over the little microphone. "Don't know when, don't know how."

"My bow got glued shut, remember?" Barton reminded the director, sounding irritated.

"I'm not armed," Tony answered, and Naomi could almost hear his smirk. "I'm never armed. There's never any need. Why would I need to be when I've got all you guys to protect me with your guns?"

As one, everyone collectively sighed, clearly audible over the headsets.

"I have my hammer, Director Fury," Thor put in. "May I use it on Stark?"

"Thor," Fury said in a warning voice.

"I don't have a gun on me; I thought I wouldn't need it today," Rogers added.

"See, I've got this really cool thing where I can turn into a cat, and can use my claws as weapons…" Naomi said, her voice mocking. "So no. I second what Rogers said. Thought I wouldn't need it."

"Fantastic," Fury muttered. "I just realized mine's gone, too. I don't know how the son of a—" he cut himself off. "Sorry, Carson, and Thor. I don't know how your jerk boyfriend and your jerk brother is doing all this crap, but let's just find Banner and meet up. Sooner we're all back together, the easier I'll be able to breathe."

"Agreed," several voices muttered together.

Naomi moved the microphone away from her mouth and glanced at her partner for the Banner search. "Let's get this done, Captain."

Steve nodded and led the way to the first door of the long hallway.

They checked the room, found it empty of any traces of either Bruce Banner or Loki, except for a piece of paper covering the security camera. They promptly removed the paper and exited the room.

"Alright, next room," Naomi said, sounding bored as she left the room they had just checked. Then she froze as she turned to head down the hall.

"Hang on, let me close this door," Steve ordered Naomi, his back to her. He didn't notice that she had frozen in shock. "Alright, now we can—" he turned and froze as well.

Loki stood about halfway down the hall, staring at the pair in just as much shock as they were in.

"Loki!" Naomi shouted and broke into a run.

They heard Loki curse under his breath and then dash into another room just down the hall, slamming the door behind himself.

Steve ran and caught up with Naomi, both of them reaching the door Loki had entered. At the same time, they grabbed the handle and threw the door open.

"Argh! What is— Disgusting!" Steve exclaimed at the same time that Naomi yelled, "Smeg!"

The moment the door opened, a gray sludge was launched at them and hit them both, covering them from mid-chest to knees before the excess dripped down to their shoes and the floor.

Naomi stared at herself, then at Steve, then looked around the room. Loki was nowhere to be seen. "_That smeghead!" _she shrieked. "It was an illusion!"

Steve inspected his shirt closely, which was now mostly covered in gray sludge. With a tentative hand, he swiped a fingerful of it off and squinted at it. "I think… I think it's cement mix, Carson."

Fuming, Naomi stomped her foot, trying to shake some of the sludge off her pants leg. "Dude, _seriously?!" _she groaned and tried to shake her shirt off, too. She groaned again. "Dude, I just got pranked by my own boyfriend! Heck, I just got pranked, _period_!"

Steve wiped his finger off on his ruined shirt with a sigh. "Let's let the others know, then." He lowered the microphone to his mouth and spoke into it. "Director Fury?"

"Rogers," Nick said curtly. "I thought I heard some screaming or something… feedback from your microphones. What's happened?"

"_Loki just pranked us!" _Naomi shrieked into her microphone without regard for the device's sensitivity.

There was a high-pitched whine as Naomi's shout overloaded its speaker for a moment. Everyone muttered indistinctly under their breath, no doubt rubbing their hurt ears. Steve threw the Huntress a frown before returning his focus to the conversation on their earpieces.

"Thanks for just deafening us," Tony's voice muttered. "What happened to you guys?"

"We thought we saw him in the hall and so we followed him," Steve started to explain. "He went into a room, but when we opened the door, we got covered in…" he grimaced. "Cement mix."

There were mixed reactions of groans and snickers over the line from various Avengers.

"Okay, okay," Fury muttered. Naomi could picture him rubbing his forehead as he spoke, thinking hard. "You guys go change clothes, shower or whatever, and we'll continue searching for Banner. I guess now we know not to follow Loki if we think we see him."

"Okay," Carson and Rogers muttered in unison, and then they headed out of the lab.

"Make sure you guys check your shampoo before you use it," Natasha advised them quickly.

"Hang on!" Tony protested. "How come they get to go shower and change when _they _get covered in something unpleasant, but _I _have to just live with being covered in green paint?" he whined.

"_Because we don't like you, tony!" _Natasha cried exasperatedly.

"_Hey-!" _Tony said indignantly, but Fury cut him off.

"Because cement mix _hardens into cement, _Tony!" fury said heatedly. "Now quit acting like a baby!"

"Hear, hear," Naomi agreed, and everyone else mumbled their approval.

The Huntress and Captain America agreed they should still stick together to avoid further incidents. So Naomi waited outside Steve's bedroom door while he showered and changed.

"Alright, Carson, I'm ready," Steve's voice said over the earpiece, and then his door opened and he stepped out in a new outfit. "Alright, let's go. I think the mix is starting to dry," he observed, gesturing to her partly-hardened t-shirt. "You'll wanna get it off before it becomes an exoskeleton."

"Agreed," Naomi waited a moment for him to take the lead.

He scratched his neck awkwardly. "Um… I don't know where your room is."

Naomi blushed a little. "Oh. Yeah. Uh… follow me, then."

Steve continued to scratch his neck awkwardly, looking uncomfortable to be being taken to the young woman's bedroom. He scratched under his collar. Then his back.

"Okay, Steve, you're making me feel really awkward and nervous," Naomi muttered, shooting him a glare as she continued walking.

"Sorry," he muttered, feeling himself blush.

When the pair reached the door to Naomi's room, she paused for a moment. "Okay, I guess you should just wait. I'll see you in a few minutes."

Steve couldn't help but scratch the back of his neck awkwardly again. "Alright."

Naomi left the nervous Captain outside, closing the door and sighing in relief. She entered her bathroom and stripped herself of the cement mix-covered clothes as quickly as she could. They were starting to get kind of crusty. She took a quick rinse (checking her shampoo, like Natasha had advised) and dried herself off before marching over to her dresser.

She froze when she opened her shirt drawer. Empty. And it had been mostly full when she left this morning. "Oh. My. _God!_" she whisper-yelled. She tore open the other drawers. All empty. "Loki, you are going to die a very slow, painful, horrific, gory death!" she vowed in a whisper.

With a last rush of hope, Naomi dashed over to her closet and yanked the door open. There were clothes hanging. "Oh, thank—" she broke off. There were clothes hanging in the closet… but only two outfits. She swallowed and hesitated before reaching forward and examining the articles. "Oh, Loki, you are going to be murdered and beaten to death with a plastic bottle. It will be very long and painful," she vowed in a whisper.

One outfit wasn't even a complete outfit. It was a very skimpy bikini. It had a tiger stripe pattern on it, no doubt Loki's idea of a humorous way for the Huntress to walk around for the rest of the day.

"You're kidding me. I am so not wearing that," Naomi muttered with a disgusted head-shake before moving on to the other hanging outfit.

Her jaw dropped when she realized what the other outfit was.. "Seriously?"

It was an exact replica of Loki's usual outfit, only female version. Including a helmet with giant golden horns on it and shiny black boots on the closet shelf. Naomi shook her head and reached for the next hanger, which had a piece of paper stuck on it.

_Naomi, you are now April's Fool. Sorry to do this to you, love, but to be fair, I at least gave you a bit of choice. I approve of whichever outfit you choose. –Loki _

"You're so full of yourself," Naomi muttered, addressing Loki, though he wasn't in the room (hopefully, she reminded herself). "If you think I'm just going to fall for this crap…" she looked around her room in vain for any alternative to Loki's outfits of choice for her. But Loki had been quite thorough in his pranking. No article of clothing remained in her room except for the crusty cement-covered clothing and the two outfits in her closet.

Grumbling to herself about murder methods involving thumbtacks and hand sanitizer, she grabbed the female version of Loki's outfit and dressed herself. At least wearing that, she wouldn't feel so exposed. She yanked the shirt over her head, pulled on the jacket, slipped into the pants, and jammed her feet into the boots. However, she omitted the horned helmet. She was going to get made fun of enough as it was without Tony calling her Mrs. Reindeer Games or some other creative name.

Once dressed, she dared to look in the full length mirror. She paused. She straightened the jacket a little, tugged on the hem of the shirt, and fiddled with her collar. Naomi smirked. She actually looked kind of hot. "Not too shabby, Mrs. Reindeer Games," she murmured. "I should wear a little leather more often." She paused, considering her reflection. "Maybe in maroon next time, though. Green's not really my color either. Clashes horribly with orange hair"

She then strode over to the door, the shiny black boots making a satisfyingly loud _click _on the hardwood floor.

"Steve, I'm coming out, but before you ask any questions, just realize that Loki pulled another prank on me," she warned, speaking into her earpiece.

No response.

"Steve?" she asked again, suddenly feeling worried. Nervously, she pulled the long sleeves of her Loki-like shirt so they weren't wrinkled. Then she pulled open her bedroom door… and stared. "Um… Steve?"

Steve Rogers at first appeared to be doing some kind of very strange dance. He had ripped his earpiece out of his ear and he had also ripped his shirt off. He couldn't seem to stand still, dancing back and forth from foot to foot. He was scratching himself crazily, never letting his hands stay in one place too long. He scraped his back against the wall across from Naomi's room.

"Steve," Naomi repeated his name again, staring in confusion. "Dude, what's your issue?"

Steve didn't pause in his scratching. "_I… itch… like… crazy!" _

Naomi stared at him for another moment before comprehension dawned on her. "Aw… smeg you, Loki," she muttered before lowering the microphone of her earpiece to her mouth. "Hey, you guys copy?"

There were several affirmative answers. "What's happened now?" Fury asked. "I heard some kind of clattering coming from someone's microphone."

Naomi realized that she hadn't even noticed the feedback from Steve's earpiece while she was dressing herself, but there probably had been some clattering sounds when he threw his earpiece, too focused on scratching himself to care. "Um, yeah… We got pranked again…" Naomi muttered.

"Oh, for the love of Odin," Thor groaned. "Now what's he done?"

"Heh heh… some lovely wardrobe malfunctions," Naomi said embarrassedly. "You can see mine later. I'm not explaining over the earpieces. But Steve got itching powder on his clothes, I think. It seems like Loki set up the cement mix prank so that me and Steve would have to go change clothes, and then set up follow-up pranks on our clothes for after we showered."

Silence.

"That's… actually kind of genius," Natasha said slowly, sounding slightly stunned.

"Romanoff," Fury said warningly. "Okay. So you're okay, Carson?"

Naomi nodded, then realized that the others couldn't see her nod through the earpiece. "Yeah. Rogers is going to scratch himself to the point of bleeding though, if he keeps going the way he's going," she added, going over to the Captain and grabbing his hands to stop his incessant scratching.

"Tell him to stop," Fury ordered. "And tell him to put his earpiece back in."

Naomi relayed the orders and handed him his earpiece from where it had been discarded on the floor.

"So what am I supposed to do?" Rogers asked, absentmindedly itching his side before Naomi slapped his hand.

"What do you mean, what are you supposed to do?" Nick asked.

"I mean, like Carson said, I'm going to scratch myself to the point of bleeding," Steve said mutinously.

"Suck it up, buttercup," Stark input. "If I know Loki in the least, he put itching powder on all your clothes. Showering and changing again won't help because you'll just put on new itching powder."

Nick's sigh was audible. "Unfortunately, I have to agree with Stark. I don't think there's much you can really do for the moment."

Steve started to protest, but he was cut off by Clint's voice.

"Hey, we just found Bruce!" Hawk Eye said excitedly. "Up on the twenty-seventh floor! Seems fine, too; I guess Loki didn't prank him."

"Good," everyone sighed in relief.

"At least, I haven't pranked him _yet_," another voice said wickedly over the line.

"Loki?!" everyone asked incredulously.

Silence.

"Everyone heard that?" Naomi asked, double checking that she wasn't going officially insane.

Everyone answered in the affirmative.

"Great," Fury said. "That means he's probably been listening this whole time, and…"

"And he's apparently still not done," Thor said, sounding regretful.

**Note from LoquaciousQuibbler: Wahaha! This one is like a quadruple prank… cementing Naomi and Steve, and then providing each of them with their own wardrobe malfunctions ;) Just awesomeness. Steve is getting all the classic pranks, huh? The Kick Me sign, and the itching powder… meanwhile Naomi is forced into choosing between a bikini or a female version of Loki's outfit. **

**And still we have more pranks to get through… Oh, Loki, you clever god of mischief, you… **

**Please favorite, follow, and review ;) See ya next Wednesday. **


	10. Chapter 10

*I'm glad everyone liked the last chapter so much XD I was quite happy with it myself. Thank you all for the continued support, and I hope you like this chapter, too!

Thor and Tony: April's Fools

"Alright, everyone, we're going to meet up in the debriefing room. I'll be there in a few minutes," Nick said over the earpieces.

"Where are you going? How come you're not going straight to the debriefing room?" Natasha's voice asked.

"I've got something to check on… Agent Hill says there's a problem I should hear about," Nick sighed.

"You think it's another Loki prank?" Naomi asked.

"I don't think so," Fury answered. "She sounded rather shocked, but she's not in the tower. I don't think she's been pranked or anything."

"Speaking of," Clint said slowly. "Who hasn't been pranked yet?"

"Bruce and Nick," Tony said immediately.

"You don't really think he'd prank Bruce, do you?" Steve asked, scratching his chest before Naomi discreetly stuck her foot out in front of his, making him stumble and lose his balance, almost falling over. She smirked; he was now too busy giving her a glare to remember to scratch himself ceaselessly.

"I wouldn't put it past him," Tony sighed. "We thought he wouldn't prank Naomi, but she got pranked."

"Twice," Naomi put in miserably. "I feel so smegging betrayed…"

"The god of mischief, trickery, and lies makes his girlfriend feel betrayed?" Natasha feigned surprise. "What a shocker…"

"And you still haven't told us what he did," Tony said excitedly. "What did he do? You said… wardrobe malfunctions, didn't you?"

"You'll see when we get to the debriefing room," Naomi said shortly. "I am not telling you over the earpieces. I think I'd rather be laughed at to my face. Then my threats to murder you have a little more substance."

"Back to the question of who hasn't gotten pranked," Clint reminded them. "Why do you think he wouldn't prank Bruce, Steve?"

"Because he's the Hulk when he gets mad," Rogers muttered. "And pranking a guy with that big of anger problems probably isn't a good idea. No offense, Bruce."

Natasha relayed the message to the doctor, who didn't have an earpiece. "He says it's fine, and he hopes he doesn't get pranked, too. He wouldn't want to get out of control." She paused. "But he also isn't making any promises."

"Alright, well… Let's meet up, then. I'll see you guys in a few minutes," Steve said. Everyone agreed.

Natasha, Clint, Bruce, Steve, and Naomi soon met outside the debriefing room.

Naomi blushed furiously as she was greeted with both Natasha and Clint's snickers. Bruce managed to hide his a little better, though he was obviously trying not to laugh as he pressed his lips together very hard.

"Something funny?" she snapped, crossing her arms over her chest.

"No," Bruce said, his voice slightly choked. "Just… um… Steve constantly scratching himself is a funny sight."

"Liar," Clint laughed out loud now, unable to contain himself. "Naomi, seeing you in Loki's outfit is just… priceless! It's just… so… comical!" he laughed.

Natasha covered her grin with her hand. "Sorry, Naomi. It's not even that it necessarily looks bad on you… it's just really funny."

The Huntress stuck her tongue out at the group, then shot a glare at Steve, daring him to say something. He hadn't commented on her new outfit, but had been constantly sneaking glances at her out of the corner of his eye. "Any other comments you'd like to add, Captain?"

"At least it's not covered in itching powder," he said mutinously, reaching down to scratch at his knees.

She rolled her eyes. "Fair point."

"So that's what you meant by wardrobe malfunctions?" Clint said, eyeing the Huntress and Captain America.

"Yeah," Naomi sighed, "What part of that isn't obvious?"

"So where are Tony and Thor?" Bruce asked. "I know Nick said he had something to do, but shouldn't Tony and Thor be here by now?"

Everyone looked around.

"I don't know," Steve said, cocking his head to one side. "No one's heard from them?"

They all shook their heads.

"Anyone know what floor they were on?" Clint asked, slowly lowering the microphone to his mouth. "I'll try to contact them on the earpieces… maybe they're just taking their time." He then switched on the microphone. "Stark? Thor? Do you copy?"

Everyone could hear a moment of static on their earpieces still in their ears.

Muffled shouts followed the static, with dispersed static interrupting the muffled shouts.

Then the dissonance cleared enough for the words "—stupid elevator! What the-?!" to be said by Tony Stark himself.

Steve spoke into his own microphone: "Tony, we didn't catch that. Did you say something about the elevator?"

More static and muffled shouts. Then Thor's voice came on. "Stark, do you think perhaps the others can hear us through your ear devices?"

"I don't know, Thor, why don't you try?" tony snapped.

There was the sound of clicking, clattering, and tapping. "Friends, can you hear me?"

"We hear you loud and clear, Thor," Clint said, breathing a sigh of relief. "What's going on? Where are you?"

There was silence for a moment. "I do not hear a response," Thor's voice said fretfully.

There was the sound of banging in the background. "What is wrong with this stupid thing?!" Tony asked furiously.

"Thor? Tony?" Naomi asked again, tapping her earpiece. "You guys?"

"Hello? My comrades?" Thor's voice asked again. "If you can hear me, please respond. We are in distress."

"Thor, what's going on?" Natasha demanded, speaking loudly and clearly into the microphone.

"Why do they not respond, Tony?" Thor asked worriedly.

"I don't know, Point Break," tony said angrily. "I don't really care so much about that. What _I want to know is why this elevator stopped working!_"

The others exchanged dark looks as they heard the conversation.

"What's going on?" Bruce asked, still in the dark from lack of earpiece.

"They can't hear us, and it sounds like they're stuck in the elevator," Steve quickly explained.

"Another prank?" Bruce sighed.

"Sounds like it," Natasha sighed, rubbing her forehead.

The four Avengers with earpieces paused and listened intently as Tony's voice came in a mumble through the microphone again.

"Okay, Thor, keep trying to contact them… I'm going to try to hack into the building systems… this is ridiculous," Tony muttered to himself. "I have to hack into my own building technology."

"Let's go try to get them out," Clint sighed, heading down the hall towards the elevators.

00000

Thor and Tony had no idea what was going to happen when they stepped into the elevator. Nick had left them moments before, claiming he had some business to take care of with Agent Hill. The two were to continue to the debriefing room.

And so they planned to… until the elevator managed to get itself stuck.

"Fifteenth floor is the debriefing room, correct?" Thor asked the painted-green man as they stepped in the elevator.

"You got it, Zeus," Tony answered, stretching his arms over his head before pausing and absentmindedly scratching at the paint on his elbow. "You have any idea how irritating it is to be covered in green paint?"

Thor smiled. "No. However, I have been the victim of many of Loki's pranks. None of which have been particularly pleasant." He inspected the rows of buttons in the elevator and pressed the one for the fifteenth floor. "Though who is this Zeus you refer to? No doubt it is some reference to some or other movie you and Naomi Carson always find it so amusing to quote, despite my lack of understanding."

"There you are actually wrong, my godlike friend," Tony said, brightening as the elevator started to lower. "Zeus is actually a reference to Greek mythology. Zeus is the god of lightning and thunder."

Thor cocked his head to one side, thinking this over. "Ah, I now see your jest about calling me Zeus," he nodded and grinned.

Tony smiled. "Little slow on the uptake, but I guess that's okay."

The elevator stopped and the two readied to leave, stepping toward the doors… which didn't open. They waited a moment.

"Hm…" tony tapped the doors with his painted-green shoe. It stayed shut. "What on earth?" he kicked a little harder. It remained shut. Tony stepped back and looked at the numbers above the elevator doors. "W-wait… this isn't the fifteenth floor, Thor."

Thor looked back at the human, his blue eyes wide. "What do you mean? Your elevator is supposed to stop on the floor which the button you pressed refers to, correct?"

Tony nodded, and pointed at the numbers above the elevator doors. "That's what it's _supposed _to do… but right now the light for both the twenty-third and the twenty-second floor are lit up… so I'm guessing we're in between the two." Tony stamped his foot, as if hoping the elevator would continue descending. "Why'd this stupid thing stop?"

Thor frowned. He didn't like this one bit. "Perhaps Loki has done something to the elevator…"

Tony shook his head vigorously. "No way. This is my technology. He could not have done anything to it. Jarvis must be having issues." Tony then hit the side of the elevator. "Come on, J! Let's get going now, shall we?"

Thor felt uneasy. This situation didn't sit well with him… he knew Loki. This seemed like a prank that he would pull.

Stark now started pounding on the walls of the elevator and shouting for it to move.

"Stark, please calm yourself," Thor said in a would-be soothing voice if Tony was even listening. With a sigh, Thor lowered his microphone to his mouth, but still addressed Tony. "Stark, do you think perhaps the others can hear us through your ear devices?"

Tony huffed, now poking every button on the panel in an effort to get it to respond. "I don't know, Point Break. Why don't you try?"

Thor fumbled with his microphone for a second, making sure it was in the correct position to transmit. "Friends, can you hear me?"

The two men in the elevator paused, listening carefully to a steady static.

"I do not hear a response," Thor said fretfully.

They continued trying to contact the others for another moment… at least, Thor tried to contact them while Tony started ranting about stupid technology and yelling at the elevator.

Finally, Tony unscrewed the control panel from the wall of the elevator. He explained that he was going to hack into the building's systems to try to get the elevator to move again.

"I shall try to contact our comrades," Thor said with a sigh. "I do not know why they do not answer. Perhaps Loki has them trapped in their own horrible prank. We should try to find a way to help them, Stark."

Tony muttered something under his breath about helping themselves first, and it wasn't Loki, it was the stupid tech. Loki couldn't do anything to his technology, Tony muttered indistinctly, twisting a few wires inside the panel and rearranging a few others.

"I think you'd be surprised with what Loki can do with magic," Thor said ominously, looking over Tony's shoulder at the circuit boards and wires.

"Hmm…" Tony frowned and rubbed his chin. "Still can't seem to get it to work. I'm going to access Jarvis's main systems now and see if I can't at least get him to talk to us and see if he can tell us what's wrong." Tony moved his hands to another part of the circuitry and fiddled with it. "Jarvis, you hear me?"

"Yes, sir," a voice said from the speaker in the elevator.

"You know what's wrong with this stupid elevator?" Tony asked, frowning. Jarvis's voice sounded a little off… but it was probably just the confines of the elevator distorting it or something. Small spaces and metal walls could mess up sound, right?

"Yes, sir, I know exactly what's wrong with your precious contraption," the voice said.

Tony frowned and looked at Thor. "That's not Jarvis, is it?" he asked, grimacing.

Thor shook his head, his face a mixture of "I told you so" and grim apprehension. "Loki, we know it's you. Stop your trickery and allow us out of this elevator."

"Oh, but what would be the fun in that, brother?" Loki's voice mocked. "It's so much more enjoyable to sit here and watch Stark have a tantrum over his technology… I don't get to see it often, and I'm starting to think I should ambush his devices more often," he said thoughtfully.

"You'd better not, Reindeer Games!" Tony said, shaking his fist at the security camera in the corner of the elevator.

"Ah, yes, because you're so obviously able to stop me," Loki drawled sarcastically.

"Loki, we will catch you and stop you from causing anyone any more grief and trouble today," Thor vowed.

"I'm sure," Loki said, obviously unconvinced. "Anyways, I just wanted to wish you a happy April Fool's Day… you are both April's Fools, by the way."

"So we noticed, Lok—" Tony's retort was cut off with a scream as the elevator suddenly plunged straight down without warning.

Both the genius's and the god's legs buckled as they lost their balance, and they collapsed to the floor.

Loki's malevolent laugh emanated from the speaker for a moment.

Thor managed to pull himself off the floor and then yanked Stark upright as well. They braced themselves against the metal walls as they continued to plummet. "Loki, stop this madness!" Thor shouted over Tony's continued panicked scream.

And to both men's surprise, the elevator did stop, just as suddenly as it had dropped. And as the floor seemed to push upward from the sudden gravity, they both felt their knees buckle and they fell to the floor again. Both cursed under their breath.

The doors slid open to reveal an anxious-looking group of the other Avengers standing outside.

The elevator let out a merry ding, and Loki's voice came once again from the speaker. "You have now reached your destination. Enjoy your reprieve… while it lasts."

The other Avengers looked shocked.

"Um…" Naomi raised her eyebrows at the two men, now struggling to their feet once again. "Pranked again, huh?"

"Shut up," Tony spat, sighing in relief as he exited the elevator.

Thor followed. "Loki somehow ambushed the elevator so that we were trapped, and then let us plummet the rest of the way to this floor."

Clint, Natasha, and Naomi cleared their throats awkwardly. "Actually, that last part was kind of… _us_…" Clint said slowly.

Tony turned on them. "What?" He let his eyes survey the wall next to the elevator. The elevator call button panel had been stripped away, exposing wires and circuit boards.

Bruce was holding a pair of pliers, and a few wires hung loose on the floor around him. "Sorry, guys. I didn't realize it would drop that fast. I disabled the circuits that were holding you between the twenty third and twenty second floor… I didn't know that would also disable the brakes until you reached this floor. My bad."

Tony gaped at the doctor. "Your bad?" he repeated. "_Your bad?! You gave us both heart attacks and we could have died dropping like that and the best you can say is 'my bad'?!" _

Steve, Clint, and Thor were now holding Tony back from leaping on Banner.

"You should be thanking me!" Bruce protested. "I got you guys out of there, didn't I? If I hadn't, Loki could've held you in there for hours!"

Everyone froze as their earpieces let out a static hiss, crackle, and then a voice. "Avengers, assemble in the debriefing room," Nick's voice demanded. "I will be their shortly. We have an even bigger problem than we thought."

They exchanged looks.

"What?" Bruce asked.

"We have got to get you an earpiece," Steve muttered. "Nick needs us to meet up in the debriefing room… where we're supposed to be, anyway."

"It's not our fault the elevator was hacked!" Tony exclaimed.

"Shut your mouth, Stark," Natasha sighed.

"Nick says we have an even bigger problem than we thought." Steve finished.

"By the way, Stark," Naomi added offhandedly. "You scream like a girl."

Tony's eyes widened. "You heard?"

"Tony, I'm fairly sure the queen of England could hear you…" Naomi reconsidered. "No, I'm fairly sure they could hear you in Asgard. Come on."

She sidestepped as Tony tried to tackle her, skipping out of the way with a mischievous grin.

"Okay, you guys, act your age. Debriefing room," Clint said, stepping in between the genius and the young woman. "Now. Before Loki pranks us again."

**Note from LoquaciousQuibbler: Lol Tony and Thor, both pranked again… stuck in the elevator. *shakes head tragically* And then plummeting another seven and a half floors… but that wasn't even a Loki prank XD all Bruce's fault there… :P **

**So… who do we have left? Bruce and Nick? WILL Loki have the guts and brains to prank the Hulk? Or is he too filled with trepidation after what happened in the penthouse during the New York invasion? (Puny god…) And would Loki have the audacity to prank Nick Fury? Well, we shall find out, won't we? Heheh we still have a couple more chapters to go ;) **

**Please tell me what you thought of this chapter in a review, and favorite and follow, too. I shall see you next Wednesday! **


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